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re: EPSTEIN: Jeffrey's PEDO Pal Found Dead in Prison
Queen To Help Pay For £12m Prince Andrew Settlement With Virginia Giuffre After Forking Out For Duke’s Legal Fees
Virginia Giuffre's Lawyers Request Proof Prince Andrew Can't Sweat Ahead Of Lawsuit
BBC News 16 FEB.2022.
THE Queen will pay towards the cost of Prince Andrew's settlement to Virginia Giuffre, it was reported last night.
The Duke of York, 61, settled claims he raped and abused Ms Giuffre when she was 17 out of court for an undisclosed sum of money - which has been speculated to be up to £12million.
The 95-year-old monarch - who paid Andrew's legal fees in the run up to yesterday's agreement - will help fund the settlement, according to the Daily Telegraph.
And royal expert Adam Helliker claims the Queen had to cover the cost because Andrew "doesn't have any income".
Mr Helliker told the Sun: "No one has that kind of money but his mother.
"Andrew is not close enough to the Prince of Wales for him to fund that kind of money. He doesn't have any income."
Mr Helliker added that the public will likely take offence to the Queen footing her son's bombshell settlement costs.
Last month, Buckingham Palace announced that the duke would be defending the case as a private citizen', but a number of commentators have claimed that would not stop him having been helped along with money from the Queen’s private wealth.
Andrew receives a Royal Navy pension and the Queen is also thought to fund her son from her £21.7-million-a-year Duchy of Lancaster income, but the figure she gives him is kept private.
David McClure, author of Royal Privilege: The Queen’s True Worth, said a settlement could be 'in the order of several million dollars'.
He told the PA news agency: “That raises the question: ‘does he have the money?'”
There had been reports Andrew had been trying to sell a chalet in the Swiss resort of Verbier which he bought for £13 million in 2014 with his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York.
Mr McClure added: “The very fact he had to sell, it does show he had some money but he didn’t have lots of money.
“So where does the money come from? I think more than likely the Queen.”
He said if money did come from the Queen it's 'more than likely would have come from the Duchy of Lancaster, which is described as the Queen’s private estate'.
He added that the source of any settlement funds to Andrew is of 'tremendous public interest', and called for the royals to 'come clean and say where the money came from'.
One of the documents submitted to the US court read: “Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew have reached an out of court settlement.
“The parties will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms Giuffre’s receipt of the settlement (the sum of which is not being disclosed).
“Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights.
“Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms Giuffre’s character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks.
“It is known that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked countless young girls over many years.
"Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.
“He pledges to demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims.”
Is There Any Way Back for Prince Andrew?
If Prince Andrew had gone to court in the US to fight it out with Virginia Giuffre, it would have made headlines as tall as a New York skyscraper.
Analysis by Sean Coughlan, Royal Correspondent
That royal disaster zone has been averted by an out-of-court settlement.
But it comes with high costs to Prince Andrew, both financial and reputational, and it will be a long road back before there is any chance of clearing his name in terms of public opinion.
He won't get back any of the royal patronages, military links or the HRH title that were taken away from him.
And the many questions raised by his BBC Newsnight interview - about his connections with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and details such as his inability to sweat - will be left unanswered.
Following the announcement of the settlement, Prince Andrew faced a renewed call from the MP for York to give up his association with the city.
"To demonstrate his seriousness in this endeavour, and his respect for those affected by abuse and the people of our city, I would ask that his first act of contrition is to confirm his support for the withdrawal of his ducal title," she said.
Ms Giuffre, who was previously known as Virginia Roberts, claimed she was the victim of sex trafficking and abuse by financier Epstein from the age of 16. Epstein died in prison in 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial.
She said part of the abuse saw her lent out to powerful men, including Prince Andrew, who is the third child of the Queen and ninth in line to the throne.
Ms Giuffre, now 38, claimed the duke, 61, sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17 at Ghislaine Maxwell's home in London, in Epstein's mansion in New York and on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands.
In a 2019 interview with BBC Newsnight, Prince Andrew said he had no memory of ever meeting Ms Giuffre and said her account of their London meeting and sex at a house in Belgravia "didn't happen".
In January, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the civil action over him could go ahead.
Buckingham Palace later announced that Prince Andrew's military titles and royal patronages had been returned to the Queen and that he would defend Ms Giuffre's civil case as a "private citizen".
New York attorney Randy Zelin told BBC's Americast podcast that he thought both sides had won.
Mr Zelin said: "Both sides won, both sides got what they wanted, both sides gave a little something up, both sides can hold their heads up high". Speaking in support of the duke, British socialite Lady Victoria Hervey said she hopes the Royal Family could now focus on the upcoming jubilee celebrations, and that
"Prince Andrew can put these false allegations behind him".
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